Beyond the Weekend

April 17 | Encounter Jesus

April 17, 2017

John 20.1-31

For the Christian, there’s no bigger day than Easter! In the Resurrection, Jesus defeats sin and death and offers to us new life. While we can see how this clearly played out, it wasn’t so simple to Jesus’ disciples.

In today’s Scripture we see people struggling deeply to understand that Jesus had risen from the grave. To them, Jesus was supposed to be their Rescuer from the oppression of Rome. Instead, he willingly went to the cross. Dejected and confused, they struggled to make sense of the fact that Jesus’ body isn’t found in the open tomb. Can you imagine the excitement that must have captivated them as the lights began to come on, “Jesus is alive!”

This past weekend we began the series Reason to Believe, recognizing we’re all somewhere in our faith journey. Some of us are on the edge of believing in Jesus—hopeful but still unsure about the details. Some of us are in the process of questioning our faith—we were once confident but have begun wondering if it’s true. And for others, our faith has grown old and cold—we believe it on paper but our hearts haven’t awakened to Him in a long time. No matter where you find yourself, Jesus is patiently inviting you to believe.

Throughout John’s gospel, Jesus engages people one-on-one as he looks a person in the eyes and speaks to their heart. Jesus desires to have this same kind of relationship with you. He is not dead, he is risen!  And he still speaks with us today.

Today, examine your own faith journey. Do you find yourself leaning towards or away from believing in Jesus? Open your hearts, consider the resurrection of Jesus, and invite Jesus to affirm his life to you today.

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